Reed and his team are great to work with. They were very responsive to my request for a quote, and provided excellent customer service throughout the project. I am very pleased with the work they did - removing old trees and shrubs, replacing them with drought-resistant but attractive plants, adding decorative rocks and lighting, and replacing several sprinkler heads in the process. The finished product was done on time, on budget, and will look great once everything starts to grow and fill in. I will definitely hire these guys for my next landscaping project and highly recommend them.

I was unable to afford their top tier services for my first home. They were incredibly respectful and responsive even when I mentioned I could not afford their services. Erin was kind enough to say in the last email "I’m very glad to help Nick! Everyone should be able to get a great landscape regardless of price." Look forward to using them down the line!

This company is unreal! Reed oversees the entire project daily! They show up at 7am each morning and are not a minute late! They work so hard and do an amazing job! I was in awe of the work ethic of this team and the end result! I would recommend this company 100%.

Reed and team did a fantastic job on our front yard. After the initial consultation, they submitted the proposed design and bid within days (including contact info for actual past customers for reference purposes) and aside from a few tweaks, we didn't change anything about it.
The work included a) replacing part of our front lawn and our entire garden bed in front of our house with drought tolerant plants, b) laying large pavers and creating a walkway from the street to our front door, c) installing a drip system to water all of the new plants, and d) adding a metal mulch ring around the tree in the center of the remaining lawn. The area around the pavers and plants was separated from the grass area with metal planter inserts in the ground and then the entire new area was filled with high end gravel. They were very clear about why they picked each plant and are clearly knowledgable about native Texas plants and bushes.
The install took place over several days during Thanksgiving week. The project was completed on time and on budget, and turned out even better than we could have expected. ANL provided clear post-install instructions regarding watering and care and the plants have continued flourishing since the install. We'd definitely use them again and will keep them in mind for any future work.

My birthday was coming up and it was time to refresh the landscaping in our new home. My husband is a DIY type of man but the scope of the project was too great for him to attempt by himself.
We wanted a complete redo: All the old patchy grass ripped out, good soil added, privacy shrubs and trees planted. A retaining wall built due to our sloping front yard. Old irrigation was shot and leaking bad so needed a new system. We also wanted a nice mortared flagstone pathway leading to the house. And finally, an Outdoor lighting to put the finishing touch on it all.
At first we contacted multiple contractors for each trade and it was a huge hassle and mess. Half of them didn’t show up, the ones that did show up tried to upsell without listening to our original ideas. You can imagine with so many trades it took a master scheduler to meet with all of them. Some of them sent a bid after a month, some didn’t at all. Coordination of all of it was a nightmare as you had to work around all of their schedules. We decided it’s not worth the hassle and decide to find one company to do it all.
We contacted 4 different companies after reading their reviews and looking at their portfolios. ANL immediately stood out. Their attitude is infectious; they are young but very knowledgeable and passionate about what they do. Their price was mid range amongst the 4 but their design, positive attitude and promptness sealed the deal.
They were booked months ahead, and could start on our projects only 3 months after we signed the contract. But believe me when I say it was worth it. They showed up early and worked late. They stored all of their tools and materials neatly after each day and especially during the weekend. Awesome communication. Most importantly, didn’t try to upsell us and followed our original idea and guidelines.
Work was done within 3 weeks and the result is spectacular. Everything looks cohesive. They keep answering our many questions months after the job is done. 2 of my neighbors were so impressed they are already getting bids from them so the work speaks for itself. Thank you!

What do you think about Plumbago? Do you grow it yourself? What kind of experience and insights you have to share? We love featuring our readers’ plant pictures and Xeriscapes!

Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) Plant Profile!

Hello, and welcome to the first design that we are going to present and discuss about. Hopefully we could explain and elaborate clearly enough about some sound Xeriscaping practices.

The first design is for a small residential. One of the trees in the front yard didn’t survive last year’s drought and must be replaced asap because of neighborhood regulations. The client decided to get a professional design and a free bid for installation from us. The owner wanted for some lawn to remain, but a good chunk of it to be converted to some drought tolerant native plants landscaping. The property was mainly in full sun.

One consideration for the tree was its size. The adjacent lot to the left is about to be developed and the client feared that a bigger tree will cause issues down the road. Excellent small tree options would be a Texas Redbud, Desert Willow or a Texas Mountain Laurel. We chose Texas Mountain Laurel because from all the smaller trees it is the most drought tolerant and an evergreen as well. Plus it smells like bubble gum and the owner have some young ones roaming about. We placed a pair of Texas Mountain Laurel in the front.

The owner did not like the previous foundation planting and wanted to replace it. An always popular option is off course Texas Sage. It is very common in Austin and for a good reason: It is an evergreen, will get up to five feet tall and wide (Although I have seen Texas Sages bigger than 8 feet!), requires very little water and has a beautiful explosion of tiny purple flowers after a good rain. It’s called a Barometer Bush for that fascinating feature! We like to leave ours unpruned for more natural aesthetic.

In front of the left Texas Mountain Laurel we placed a Bottlebrush plant. Bottlebrush plants are great bang for your buck in the sense that they get quite big and pronounced and have very showy and bold red flowers. A well tended Bottlebrush will grow to be a behemoth; up to 7-8 feet tall and 5-8 feet wide! Another major advantage is it being an evergreen, and in combination with its low water requirements it is clearly a winner. A single well placed Bottlebrush will go a long way.

Behind the Texas Mountain Laurels, are five Flame Acanthus plants. Those are lovely and gorgeous plants with brilliant orange color. They are very drought tolerant and are a classic Austin and Central Texas Xeriscape plant. Hummingbirds swear by this plant and enjoy feasting on it through its long blooming period. Native to Mexico and Central Texas, Flame Acanthus shrubs will thrive on as little as 12 inches of rain a year.

Full sun, low water and explosion of yellow flowers? Texas Lantana fills those categories quite nice. Butterflies enjoy its many flowers that begin colored yellow and slowly turn to orange. Texas Lantanas are a bit more drought tolerant than then other Lantanas in the genus.

Next is one of my own personal favorites; Fall Aster. Compact and tidy, this perennial showers the landscape with dozens of gentle purple flower. And best of all, it does it in the fall while the rest of the plants are vacationing. Fall Asters should find a spot in everyone’s yard here in Austin. Low water + Fall Color = Win.

Last and certainly not least, to add a nice wild looking low growing layer we choose to use Blackfoot Daisies. This is another favorite of ours as it is a quite a jack of all trades: Very low, Xeriscape worthy water requirements. The plant has a relatively long blooming season. It’s an EVERGREEN. It is also perfectly short and compact which makes Blackfoot Daisy an excellent candidate for any and all wildflower scatterings.

That’s it for now folks and fellow Central Texans! I hope you all enjoyed reading my plant babble and some of my thoughts regarding different considerations when designing drought tolerant flowerbeds here in Central Texas.

Austin Native Landscaping

Our practice is very focused and specialized: We design with drought resistant, mostly Texas native perennials, installing truly spectacular and low maintenance landscapes.
We don’t do decks, patios, masonry work or lawn care. We do one thing and do it well; Xeriscape Design, Installation And Maintenance.
All the plants in our designs are available locally: we know it because we use them everyday.

Google Reviews

Reed and his team are great to work with. They were very responsive to my request for a quote, and provided excellent customer service throughout the project. I am very pleased with the work they did - removing old trees and shrubs, replacing them with drought-resistant but attractive plants, adding decorative rocks and lighting, and replacing several sprinkler heads in the process. The finished product was done on time, on budget, and will look great once everything starts to grow and fill in. I will definitely hire these guys for my next landscaping project and highly recommend them.

I was unable to afford their top tier services for my first home. They were incredibly respectful and responsive even when I mentioned I could not afford their services. Erin was kind enough to say in the last email "I’m very glad to help Nick! Everyone should be able to get a great landscape regardless of price." Look forward to using them down the line!

This company is unreal! Reed oversees the entire project daily! They show up at 7am each morning and are not a minute late! They work so hard and do an amazing job! I was in awe of the work ethic of this team and the end result! I would recommend this company 100%.

Reed and team did a fantastic job on our front yard. After the initial consultation, they submitted the proposed design and bid within days (including contact info for actual past customers for reference purposes) and aside from a few tweaks, we didn't change anything about it.
The work included a) replacing part of our front lawn and our entire garden bed in front of our house with drought tolerant plants, b) laying large pavers and creating a walkway from the street to our front door, c) installing a drip system to water all of the new plants, and d) adding a metal mulch ring around the tree in the center of the remaining lawn. The area around the pavers and plants was separated from the grass area with metal planter inserts in the ground and then the entire new area was filled with high end gravel. They were very clear about why they picked each plant and are clearly knowledgable about native Texas plants and bushes.
The install took place over several days during Thanksgiving week. The project was completed on time and on budget, and turned out even better than we could have expected. ANL provided clear post-install instructions regarding watering and care and the plants have continued flourishing since the install. We'd definitely use them again and will keep them in mind for any future work.

My birthday was coming up and it was time to refresh the landscaping in our new home. My husband is a DIY type of man but the scope of the project was too great for him to attempt by himself.
We wanted a complete redo: All the old patchy grass ripped out, good soil added, privacy shrubs and trees planted. A retaining wall built due to our sloping front yard. Old irrigation was shot and leaking bad so needed a new system. We also wanted a nice mortared flagstone pathway leading to the house. And finally, an Outdoor lighting to put the finishing touch on it all.
At first we contacted multiple contractors for each trade and it was a huge hassle and mess. Half of them didn’t show up, the ones that did show up tried to upsell without listening to our original ideas. You can imagine with so many trades it took a master scheduler to meet with all of them. Some of them sent a bid after a month, some didn’t at all. Coordination of all of it was a nightmare as you had to work around all of their schedules. We decided it’s not worth the hassle and decide to find one company to do it all.
We contacted 4 different companies after reading their reviews and looking at their portfolios. ANL immediately stood out. Their attitude is infectious; they are young but very knowledgeable and passionate about what they do. Their price was mid range amongst the 4 but their design, positive attitude and promptness sealed the deal.
They were booked months ahead, and could start on our projects only 3 months after we signed the contract. But believe me when I say it was worth it. They showed up early and worked late. They stored all of their tools and materials neatly after each day and especially during the weekend. Awesome communication. Most importantly, didn’t try to upsell us and followed our original idea and guidelines.
Work was done within 3 weeks and the result is spectacular. Everything looks cohesive. They keep answering our many questions months after the job is done. 2 of my neighbors were so impressed they are already getting bids from them so the work speaks for itself. Thank you!